


steel

by clairelutra (exosolarmoon), volpish



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Protectiveness, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 19:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16859875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exosolarmoon/pseuds/clairelutra, https://archiveofourown.org/users/volpish/pseuds/volpish
Summary: Callum has steel in him, Rayla notes. // a character study





	steel

**Author's Note:**

> and so begins...... the Great Tumblr Crosspost of 2k18
> 
> wish me luck :')

_Say the word,_ Callum had said, all five fingers wrapped around her wrist and steel lurking in his eyes, _and I’ll go back into that tower with you._

And he had.

As Rayla clutched the bleeding hole in her side and slumped into her stone nook, she wondered how she’d ended up on the receiving end of this. _She_ was the protector, _she_ was the combatant, _she_ was the strongest and the fastest and–

Callum was holding his own.

True, it was more out of ingenuity and improvised weaponry than any actual skill with the sword in his hand, but he _was._

…He looked kinda cool out there, actually.

Rayla pulled back into her nook and breathed through clenched teeth. _Damn_ did getting stabbed hurt.

There was a tremendous clatter from the battlefield, then Callum stumbled up, chest heaving.

“He’s down.” He straightened his spine and shoved his sweat dampened bangs out of his face. His eyes had gone all steel-flinty again. “We gotta go.”

 _It suits him,_ she thought. Out loud, she just said, “Nice job.”

He helped her out of the nook with an unsteady grin, one caught between terror and desperate resolve and a little bit of pride, and that suited him too. He got her arm over his shoulder, helping her take her own weight while she struggled through the pain and blood loss

Tasting metal and feeling like the world had gotten in a tiff with its axis, she took the help gratefully.

“Not exactly the most heroic of rescues, huh?” Callum joked, strained halfway to the breaking point, but his grip was strong and his support felt sturdy.

It was reassuring, somehow.

She never would have been able to make it out of here alone, but now that he was here, it didn’t seem so impossible.

(All of her upbringing told her feeling like that was shameful, that she should be fearless, _unstoppable_ , no matter the circumstances. After nearly half a year of traveling with these particular two humans, she couldn’t bring herself to feel it.)

“I dunno,” she said, letting her eyes slip shut. She could trust him with leading her for a moment or three. There was always that knot at the back of her neck that loosed when they were around, and it always led to things like this. “Y’ look pretty heroic t’ me.”

A stretch of stumbling silence, then a splutter of, “I, uh, wait, what? Really?”

When she cracked an eye back open, there was a red flush spread over his cheekbones.

“You heard me,” she snorted, and closed her eyes again. The torchlight was doing her no favors, but even the sharp sting couldn’t completely knock the smile off her face. “Less talkin’, more walkin’.”

“…Right.”

One painful step after another and another and another and another and another…

“…Hey, Rayla?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> go tell someone you love them today ♥


End file.
